Things We Never Learned in High School

In this day and age, there is so much stress put on getting an education, but why aren’t we taught things that are relative to real life? We’re expected to leave high school and be ready for the real world. We’re urged to get a post secondary education, but how? Most times you have to get a student loan, and when you’re finished post-secondary it’s time to start out in your career and start living; buying a house, saving for retirement, purchasing your first car. How does one make all that happen?

If you’re anything like myself, my parents helped me out a lot. Why isn’t there a course or a class that teaches us these practical skills? How awesome would that be? I didn’t know what a mortgage was at 18, what RRSP’s were. I didn’t know how my bank account worked, or how to get a loan. I feel like the education system should implement a course, basically to teach us how to be an “adult”, maybe it’s called “Life Without Your Parents 101”.

I’m not talking about teaching us all how to be bankers, I’m talking about giving us some general knowledge. Why is it important to pay your bills on time? How does a credit card works (Guess what? IT’S NOT FREE MONEY!!!!!)? What does a mortgage do? Why are RRSP’s important? Is that the only way to save for retirement? What’s a pension? What’s revolving credit? What’s a term loan? I know the answers to these questions, but only because I was a banker for 6 years but not everyone has a career in banking. During my career I have seen so many young people so confused about finances it is heartbreaking. That credit card they gave you when you turned 18 with no income (just because you were a student), ends up burning a whole lot of people just because they weren’t educated. It’s no real fault of their own, they’ve just never been taught.

Why isn’t financial education important? Seriously though, the pythagorean theorem is great, but it doesn’t teach us how to be adults? It doesn’t teach us how to get a student loan so we can continue our education or buy our dream home? I would love to see these skills be integrated into our education curriculum, whether it be high school or post-secondary to teach us the basics of everyday finances.

Do you feel like this? Would you like to understand your finances to make a big life decision? Let me help educate you on the basics. Become empowered, contact me for your mortgage needs or any other financial question.